


take my eyes

by Darkwhitepebble



Category: Tokyo Ghoul, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: (eventually) - Freeform, ...yeah, Abuse, Abused Midoriya Izuku, Angst, Big Bro Hawks, Blood, Blood and Gore, Blood/Glore, Body Horror, Cannibalism, Dadzawa, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Evil Nana Shimura, Gore, Graphic Description, Implied/Referenced Torture, Izuku snaps, Kagune (Tokyo Ghoul), Kakuja, Marie-Antoinette Syndrome, Midoriya Izuku Has All for One Quirk, Monster Midoriya Izuku, Morally Ambiguous Character, No Fluff, No Smut, The Author Regrets Everything, The Author Regrets Nothing, Torture, Well - Freeform, White-Haired Midoriya Izuku, at least, but also just kill me, don't really think baby zuki can get help at this point, emotionally at least, eventually, have i said it enough, have mercy, he tries, i think, i'm so mean, just some quality torturing zuki here thank you very much, like hell no, more like morally grey, more like no morals, no beta we die like hide, no duh, oh god i regret that, post-torture, s n a p, so in a few chapters, so many, sorry thirsty kids back off, this poor child be dead now, trigger warning, well had, yeah - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:40:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27289549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkwhitepebble/pseuds/Darkwhitepebble
Summary: Izuku gives Kachaan a weak smile as he's taken through the portal. It's wavering, and shaky, but goddamnit it's still fucking there.he'll never smile like that again.Izuku took Bakugou's place, taken by the League at the camp. He'll stay strong, though. He will bear all of the pain with a smile. When Izuku returns, nothing is ever going to be the same.AU where izuku gets taken, i make him into a ghoul, and basically just turn him into Kaneki with curly hair. sorry. lots of torture. you don't have to know Tokyo Ghoul to read the story.
Relationships: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Midoriya Izuku & Everyone
Comments: 60
Kudos: 266





	1. an ocean away

Izuku gives Kachaan a weak smile as he's taken through the portal. It's wavering, and shaky, but goddamnit it's still fucking there. 

_He'll never smile like that again._

* * *

He was taken to a huge room, dimly lit to he couldn't quite see the walls or the ceiling. The floor was black and white and the walls were red. Izuku was chained to a chair, shackles around his wrists and feet. There was a metal table in front of him. 

Izuku was scared. He didn't know where he was. The only person in front of him was Shigaraki and the blonde girl Toga, and the room was silent. 

When Izuku focused, he could see tools on the metal table. Stained with old blood. The floor below him was smeared with old stains. Some were dark red, while others had taken on an almost brownish tint. 

There was a deep voice that shook Izuku to his very core.

"Let's try out our new experiment on him, no?"

Izuku hated needles. 

And this one was coming straight for his face. He squirmed and tried to avoid it, but hands reached out and grabbed the sides of his head, forcing him to still. Izuku squeezed his eyes shut and readied himself for the pain.

Someone clicked their tongue. "We can't have that, can we?"

And someone was prying open his eye. 

The first scream of soon to be many rang out. 

* * *

_"Count backward from a thousand by seven."_

* * *

Changes happened. 

They weren't welcome.

His body shifted. He was practically salivating. He was so goddamn _hungry._

There was a low laugh near him. "So it worked."

A low growl rumbled in the room. 

* * *

Another hour passed. 

And then, "Clear the room. Spinner, stay behind. Close and lock the doors, and watch the security camera."

Izuku snarled, half unaware of what he was even doing. He despised the voice, even though he hadn't heard it much. 

There was another minute, and it sounded like everyone had really departed. Izuku looked up, gaze locking on the last man in the room. 'Spinner', the voice had called him. He had a mutant lizard quirk, and looked vaguely uncomfortable to be there. Oh well. 

"Release his chains."

Izuku's hate of the voice subsided just a small amount. 

Spinner walked forward without protest, though he was hesitant to get near Izuku. He grabbed a key from the blood-stained table and knelt behind Izuku, sliding it into the locks in his chains. There is a tense moment of silence, before the chains drop uselessly to the ground.

Izuku stands, he turns to the mutant villain.

And he lunges.

* * *

Afterwards, the villains filter in to chain him back to the chair and clean up the mess he made. Izuku fought viciously, but what could he really do?

A moment later, there was another needle heading straight for his eye.

* * *

Two days.

Two _goddamned_ days his problem child had been missing.

Needless to say, Aizawa Shouta, the Erasure hero, had gotten no sleep. Neither had the boy's close mentor, All Might. Both looked haggard and ragged, though for Aizawa is was just more so than usual. Which wasn't unusual in itself.

Now they were sitting in a conference room with detective Naomasa Tsukauchi, discussing what was happening and what their next move was going to be. No one was giving very many ideas. Aizawa was guilty of that himself. 

Most of his time was spent in fear, his mind spiraling to dark places as he started to unwillingly imagine the pain his problem child must be going through. It couldn't have been pretty in any way. He was scared for him.

Until there was a knock on the door, and when Nedzu answered it, a silver laptop sat in front of it.

The rat carefully grabbed the laptop and brought it over to the table, standing on the edge of Aizawa's chair as he opened it up. The screen was black for a second, and then it flickered to life. Aizawa almost wished it hadn't.

The screen was grey, with a single red circle in the center. For a moment, it was silent, and confusion spread like ripples through the conference room and the staff present inside. What was this thing? An impromptu gift? If it was, it had the worst timing. 

Then, a deep voice.

"Well, hello pro-heroes."

And All Might looked like he was about to faint. Aizawa knew who it was, from being filled in. The leader of the infamous League of Villains was an age-old supervillain named All For One, who stole quirks and kept them for himself. It was terrifying, the mere concept of it. 

"All For One?" Nedzu questioned.

The villain didn't get a chance to answer, because a low, long scream came through the microphone. It sounded tortured and in pain. The scream of someone dying. The scream of _Aizawa's number one problem child._

Another second of silence, and then a heavy sigh. "He's certainly very vocal, which I believe Toga enjoys. Otherwise, I'd have him gagged so he would top screaming already. It's rather obnoxious."

As if to punctuate his sentence, there was another scream. This time, Aizawa could make out faint words in the high, pained notes. _Not the centipedes, anything but the centipedes, I'll be good, stop!_

Centipedes.

What the hell was going on?

And then another scream, this one even worse than the last. Lower. Grittier. Raspier, if you will. 

And it wrenched Aizawa's heart from his chest.

"I believe a message will be wasted on you, when there is such a lovely demonstration nearby. For his sake, I hope you arrive before we break his mind."

_"NO!"_

The line disconnected.

* * *

A gasp. 

"535."

Another scream.

"528."

Why wouldn't it just _stop?_

It hurt.

It hurt so much. 

He was crying out for help. He was asking for help. He was screaming for help. He needed help. He hated this, hated this feeling, hated this uselessness, and it just made more memories crawl up in his mind. He screamed for help.

~~WHY WOULDN'T ANYBODY HELP HIM?~~

He had-

Oh god. He had killed that villain. The lizard man. As soon as he was free, he had attacked, he hadn't cared, he was _hungry._ He was so, so _hungry._ And the villain, Spinner, tried to push him off, cried out for help, but that only made Izuku even more hungry.

He had tore apart his body, ripped the scales off his arms, pried open his snout, watched the mouth-watering blood drip to the floor and gather in a puddle beneath him. Then he had dipped his head and tore into the flesh, a sweet, sweet taste exploding in his mouth. Almost moaning from the heavenly flavor -he had never had anything quite like this before- he continued to eat.

The screams were like music to his ears. 

Afterwards, they had come in. The villains looked horrified at the mess Izuku had made. For some reason, Izuku hadn't been able to find it in him to be disgusted. He was still hungry. He still wanted blood, still wanted flesh in his mouth. 

The man belonging to that same _goddamned voice_ had made an appearance, personally sticking him back in the chair and doing his chains. And he didn't even have eyes with which to look at Izuku. Only a sickening grin and a melted mess of a face. 

And then he had taken over Izuku's torture. 

* * *

Izuku hated centipedes.

* * *

Toga laughed as she drank another vial of blood. They were gathered painstakingly, and used just for this purpose.

When she looked exactly like that brown-haired girl she liked, Ochaco-chan, she walked into the room where they were keeping the play thing. Blood was scattered all around him, but he remained unharmed. His hair looked a shade lighter than before, though. 

"Deku, what are you doing?" Toga asked in the girl's voice.

Izuku's head snapped up, gaze finding Toga in seconds flat. His eyebrows furrowed in the most adorable way as he managed to choke out. "U-u-u-uraraka-chan?"

Toga grimaced at his state. "You can't even save yourself, Deku. How can you ever be a hero?"

And the poor, adorable little thing just seemed to wilt into himself. He shook his head, shutting his eyes tight and turning his head away. "I know it's you, Toga. You can't fool me again."

"But it's not me you see." Toga cooed, walking up to him and grabbing the bottom of his chin with a soft touch. She yanked it up to look at him violently, though. He didn't need to be coddled. "It's her. Every time you remember this, it'll be her. And you can't separate that."

The small boy paled and tried to struggle away from her. "Please, _no,_ " his little voice cracked pitifully. "don't do this!"

Toga picked up a scalpel from the bloody table, leaning down in front of him and pressing the sharp edge up against his cheek. A sickening smile twisted Uraraka's face as she lightly dragged it down Izuku's cheek. Blood welled in its wake, dripping down his face to travel to his chin. 

"You're going to love this."

* * *

Izuku sat in his chair, but he was in a field of white flowers.

Upon closer inspection, they were white spider lilies. As he focused on one, it twirled and spun into a red one. _Death._

Izuku was going to be sick.

"You realize how you must get out of this, right?" 

The greenette yanked his head up, gaze locking onto a tall woman with black hair in a bun. She had yellow gloves and a white cape over a black bodysuit. She was... Nana Shimura. One of the holders of One For All.

"Huh?" Izuku replied intelligently. 

"In order to leave, you must kill them." She replied, staring at him with a warm smile.

Izuku's stomach dropped. "N-no, I can't. Heroes don't kill people."

She shook her head, turning to look away. There was a gentle weariness in her eyes, almost as if she had seen this before. She sighed, and reached down to touch a spider lily. It turned red in her fingers. 

"You're not a hero anymore." She replied after a second.

But-

No. Impossible. He was a hero. He was going to be a hero. 

And heroes didn't kill. 

"I am a hero." Izuku said as much. He would stand strong, bear this with a smile because _that's what heroes do._

She shook her head. "What about that villain? The lizard, Spinner."

And Izuku's stomach started twisting itself into knots. Because he was trying to ignore it, trying to pretend it had never happened, because _heroes don't kill people._ It wasn't- it wasn't-

"It was you. And it's not your fault. Now, it's just your nature. We all have to eat something, Izuku." She stood, and another spider lily spun into red. Izuku shook his head as she took a step towards him, pupils dilated and eyes impossibly wide.

Because he was smart. He knew what she insinuating.

His voice was cracked and hoarse. "W-what? I don't- I don't _eat_ people."

It sounded flimsy even to him. 

Nana reached out, caressing the edge of his cheek with a gloved hand. "It's alright, Izuku. We understand that the quirk is over. No one will ever get One For All again, and that's going to ensure a better world."

What was she even talking about?

This fever dream was too vivid.

"Tell me about your family." she murmured quietly.

Izuku didn't want to. He wanted to sit in silence. But he knew if he did, his mind really would snap. He knew that if he gave into temptation, he'd be broken beyond repair. ~~Even though he already was.~~

"My dad left when I was young because he didn't want a quirkless son. He's overseas." Izuku forced himself to say. "My mom works hard to provide for me."

Nana clicked her tongue. "You'll soon devour her, Izuku."

And that was enough to make Izuku give in.

" _No!"_

The field vanished.

* * *

"Restart."

Another toe. 

"993."

Another scream.

"986."

_Another fingernail._

"979."

_Another tooth._

"972."

God, why did it hurt so much? Why couldn't they just let him _die_ already? He'd rather be six feet under than in this personal hell. Though, now that he thought about it, he would probably end up right back here.

And he was hungry again. 

* * *

He was back in the field again.

Nana stood there, shaking her head with the same fond smile. "Don't you just hate this pain?"

And Izuku, who had just somehow regenerated over a thousand body parts, nodded with tears streaming down his face. God, how he just wanted this to _end._ He hated this so much. 

"What can I do to make this stop?" Izuku knew he sounded broken. He knew his voice was almost gone from all of his screaming, knew it was cracked and pained. But he didn't care. He was stained with his own blood, and he didn't even care. 

Nana was suddenly right next to him, leaning down to whisper in his ear. _"Do you want this pain to stop?_ "

"Yes, _god, please._ " Izuku begged, more tears falling down his face.

"Do you want to be free from this?" Izuku nodded. 

"You know, the basis of heroes is to take the hurt from others and put it onto ourselves. That's what it is to be a hero. It's a weak principle. What point is there to taking all the pain for yourself?" Nana's voice didn't really sound like her.

Izuku vaguely wondered if it was Toga again. 

"That's what a weak person would do." 

And Izuku nodded, because he just needed out. He didn't care what happened to those around him. He wanted out, and he wanted to watch the world _burn._ He wanted to stomp the ashes under his foot and laugh at the poor people trapped below. 

He wanted to live.

"To live is to take." he found himself saying, though he didn't understand why. 

" _Take."_ Nana hissed suddenly.

And Izuku was just _so hungry._

* * *

They found it.

They had found the place where they were keeping the student. 

Aizawa could only pray they weren't too late.

Troops were mobilized, forces gathered, and Aizawa let his class come along. Because he knew it was safer for them to come legally where they could protect them, rather than sneaking in and getting killed. 

The building was dingy. 

_Kamino Ward._

There was the heavy stench of blood in the air. 

" _Move out!"_

* * *

Toga was left alone with the broken toy while the others went out to stop the heroes. 

His hair had gone stark white. Blood dripped off of his frame. He was dressed in a tattered white shirt and tattered black shorts. The shirt's high collar was hiding his mouth, and his hair was falling in front of his face.

He was very still.

Toga knew something was wrong.

But she was bored. 

So she grabbed a scalpel.

* * *

Toga had gotten too close to him. 

Humans were so fragile.

_Izuku was still hungry._


	2. how you see me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the afo confrontation, though it doesn't go how you might think

Toshinori had been failing at his job. 

Fighting his archnemesis, All For One. He was doing very badly, he might add. 

When Toshinori finally landed a punch, all the eyeless man had done was stumble back. It was more than frustrating, at this point in time. Why wouldn't he just _go down?_ Shouldn't one time be enough? He _crushed his goddamned head._

There was a scream loud enough to be heard very faintly outside, and Toshinori's stomach dropped. It was too quiet for him to tell whether it was his boy or another in the building. 

All For One suddenly froze, then laughed.

"I suppose I will see you in a moment, Yagi."

He turned and vanished. 

Toshinori turned, surveying the battle raging behind him. The police force and other heroes were dealing with small-time villains doing a surprisingly good job at stopping them from advancing. 

As he watched, Aizawa appeared, followed by his flock of kids. Dressed in their hero gear, they looked as dangerous as the pros to the untrained eye. Bakugou looked to be leading the charge, though Todoroki didn't seem far behind him. 

"We heard the scream," Aizawa said tersely to him, nodding. 

Toshinori swept his gaze across the kids of class 1-A. They were made of something different than the rest. Something not even most pro-heroes had. They steely expressions on their face, the determination in their gazes, it was obvious they knew what they had signed up for.

And they were ready to see it through.

Toshinori wished he had had the same conviction when he was that age. 

He was suddenly reminded of his boy. 

"Let's proceed into the building, then." 

* * *

All For One walked into the room where they were keeping the young charge.

He grimaced at the sight of Toga on the ground, blood leaking out around her. She was clearly dead, throat ripped out and half of her face with deep teeth marks. Rips ran across her fair skin, leaking thick blood.

Izuku, who was sitting on the chair in front of her, chains gone, was grinning. His left eye had pitch-black sclera, with a dark red pupil and cracks spiderwebbing out from it. He licked his lips, before turning to look at the supervillain.

* * *

It had felt so natural.

Nana had offered herself up. 

So he ate her.

He got out of his chains and pounced onto her, sinking his fangs into her shoulder and relishing at the taste of blood in his mouth. She cried out under him, but he paid no mind to it. He was hungry.

Screams were a part of the package.

He didn't care.

* * *

Toga didn't quite compare.

* * *

Aizawa and Toshinori led the kids to the entrance of the building, pulling open the door and shuffling inside.

Aizawa hated this, he hated taking his kids in here so much, but this was the only way to keep them safe. To be with them. If he didn't take them, they would sneak in on their own, and that would be even worse.

Still.

He _despised_ this. 

Nedzu had said that he was building dorms to ensure the chances of this happening were minuscule. Aizawa at least approved of that, because he sick and tired of his kids getting hurt, his kids being taken. 

When had he even started calling them 'his' kids?

Hizashi would have a cow when this was all over. Maybe he would even cheer up Midoriya with this.

Toshinori looked properly nervous, biting his lip and smile gone. 

The halls were dim and empty, grey tile underneath their feet and white walls. Well, they were supposed to be white, Aizawa thinks. There were so many smudges and stains of black and red substances, and it physically hurt him to think about what his kid was doing at the moment.

He was supposed to protect him.

This was _not_ protecting him. 

God, that child wouldn't be let out of his sight for the rest of his time at UA. Maybe even after that. Because this was too heart-wrenching, nerve-wracking. Every minute that passed took another year off of his life. 

At this rate, he was going to die tomorrow.

But as long as his kid was safe, he couldn't even bring himself to care.

There was another long scream that seemed to echo through the halls and almost made him activate his quirk in surprise.

The kids whimpered in fear, whispers passing them. They hadn't been to the conference to hear the screams. Aizawa was still sick to his very core when he tried to think about why his problem child was screaming about a centipede.

And if he hadn't hated bugs before, he sure as hell did now. 

The group turned another corner, and the bloodstains on the ground seemed to increase the further down the hall they went. Aizawa had a strong stomach. He was an underground hero; he had some horrifying things in his career.

But for some reason, these were so much _worse._

And oh god, his kids. 

Aizawa cast a gaze behind him and saw a face clearly nauseous kids in his group. God, to them this was the cinnamon-roll, pure-child of the class. This was their best friend, the one who always blushed under attention and mumbled to himself, and always tried to help. 

He couldn't let this happen.

So he stopped, turning to his kids. 

"Listen to me. This is going to get so much worse. To be plain, it's going to be traumatizing as all hell. If you don't want that burned into your memory, there is no shame in turning and walking away. Because you cannot stand there and make yourself a liability once we find Midoriya. If I could, I would run to. Step away now if you know its not something you can't unsee."

He expected half the class to leave because even he didn't want to be here.

To his ultimate surprise, only one stepped away. Mineta.

He couldn't even be mad at him for this one. 

He turned to look at Toshinori, and the man nodded at him. Aizawa sighed, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose whilst shaking his head. These kids... they were stupidly loyal and the best children- no, the best _people_ he had ever met.

"You've been warned. Everyone is required to go to therapy after this." 

They turned and continued moving forward, and Aizawa took a deep breath when they took another turn and found a set of heavy double doors at the end of the hall. There were no windows in the doors, which meant they were going in blind. 

They drew closer to the set of doors, and Aizawa and Toshinori paused outside of it to listen in. 

"You were very bad, Izuku. You killed Toga."

Aizawa felt cold. That was impossible. _His_ problem child? Never.

"Now you've made such a mess. What would Nimiko and Jina say about this?"

A moment of silence.

"You killed them both." 

His voice was raspy, hoarse, and cracked, but it was still there. Aizawa still recognized it. He remembered hearing it on the first day, remembered how it pleaded with him, and spoke with such conviction about being a hero. 

"You know, not many are willing to accept this, but when you eating someone will strengthen and give your quirk new abilities. Did you know that, Izuku? It tastes disgusting, I will admit, but I ate my first human seventy-five years ago. And here I stand."

Another minute of quiet.

" _Let me devour you._ "

Aizawa held up three fingers.

Two fingers.

One finger. 

* * *

There was a heavy crash on the door, which almost made All For One laugh. 

Did they really think it would be that easy?

* * *

Izuku Midoriya sat in a chair with his head down, pale white curls hiding his face. He had managed to snap the chains to the cuffs around his ankles, but his arms were still held back behind him. 

All For One stood in front of him, reaching out for his face. 

Izuku snapped out, teeth closing around two fingers and _ripping._ His fangs dug in and the appendages gave little resistance, blood exploding in his mouth and filling him with so much more energy than before.

He raised his head to look All For One straight in the eye as he swallowed the fingers. 

All For One grimaced at him, pulling his hand back as his missing fingers regenerated without trouble. Izuku wanted to rip apart his face, his entire body, to watch his blood drip onto the floor around him. 

And strength was flowing through him, just from the blood.

" _I am going to devour you whole._ " All For One grinned, sadistic, cruel. 

And Izuku's response was to laugh. He bent his head even further and just laughed. It took on a manic edge, but he didn't notice. If he had, he wouldn't have cared anyway, he supposed. 

"Hilarious." Izuku giggled, raising his head to look at him again. "You really are an inconsequential man."

And All For One faltered for a second before his grin returned full-force. "Aren't you just _fabulous?_ "

As All For One made another move to walk forward, Izuku used his strength and he _pulled._

There was the sound of metal snapping and chains breaking, and then the small boy was on All For One's shoulders, using his own chain to choke the one that had put him here. All For One spluttered and clawed at his throat.

" _Devour this,_ " Izuku responded with a smirk, pulling hard enough to snap his chain. He leaped back from the man, landing safely on the floor a few feet away from him. His smirk was still intact. 

He grimaced, reaching up to swipe a hand across his mouth. He smeared the blood there. Despite what he'd thought earlier, "You taste foul."

* * *

_Tell me, oh tell me, the way it works_ _out._

* * *

All For One must have felt the blood dripping down the side of his head because he spluttered for a moment. "Wha-? Y-You... bit me?"

And dear god, if he didn't sound so surprised. Izuku almost laughed, but instead, his smirk grew. 

"Almost like the intestines of a fish on the verge of spoiling," Izuku observed, wiping away the blood with his wrist again. The cuff still around it clinked a little as he dropped it back to his side.

All For One sent a blast of power out for him, and it took on a tangible purple form. It headed straight for him and curved its path even. Izuku jumped forward, feinting and dodging out of its path. It embedded itself into the ground next to him.

He moved again in an instant, foot heading straight for the villain's face in what would have been a powerful kick. Unfortunately, he caught his ankle with both giant hands and snarled. 

"I'm not letting go!" He twisted his ankle in different directions. Izuku only smirked.

He twisted himself, spinning around to land another kick to the side of the man's head. He was flung to the other side of the room, crashing into the wall with smoke billowing out from it. 

Izuku landed, and his foot twisted itself the right way again and healed easily. 

His smirk was gone. "You think that after everything else, something like _that_ hurts?" 

He raised his gaze as he spoke, waiting for the smoke to clear. There were the sounds of movement from within.

"Kill you... I'll kill you!" Came the roar.

All For One's silhouette became visible, and he cracked one of his fingers as a glowing mass covered him. It burst with life, and Izuku knew it was powerful. Something about it called to himself, though. He wasn't quite sure why. It made him want to laugh, because to him, it seemed almost weak. 

"I'll make a sloppy mess of you." The villain snarled, burnt face and mouth becoming visible before the mass covered it. He opened his mouth, saliva dripping from it onto the ground in disgusting lines.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" He screamed. 

Izuku looked at him, and reached up, and cracked his middle finger.

"I'LL CHOMP YOU TO DEATH!"

A smirk grew on his lips.

There was another crack in the floor, as the villain crouched to the ground with his hands and planted. He looked like a wild animal with the mass swallowing most of his body and giving a deranged aura. He could be compared to that of a wild gorilla, or something else along those lines. 

"IZUKU!"

He charged faster than what should be possible, hand sweeping out in a vicious attack. Izuku leaped over it, flipping backward to land on the ground as he dodged another attack. It was almost pathetic. Each punch, each kick, each shot of the mass went straight for him with the intent to kill.

He dodged all of it.

Leaping this way, ducking that, jumping over the man's head. 

Izuku swept down below, bringing his fist up in a solid punch. It collided with All For One's chest, but the man only grinned as another bright glow swept through the mass. It grew to grab him and encapsulate him in a twisted arm of entwined branches, winding back and throwing him straight across the room.

The white-haired boy flew straight into the wall with enough force to crack it, making a crater where he landed as smoke billowed up from the blow. The room shook, and pieces of the ceiling came raining down.

All For One pulled his monster quirk back, panting and crouching slightly. He was grinning.

It disappeared as Izuku walked out of the smoke unharmed, bare feet on the floor. All of his nails had turned black, and the cuffs were still around his wrists and ankles. It was almost comical. 

That was before the wind from the impact blew up the back of his shirt, and dark spots appeared on his lower back. It glowed, and then extended outwards into four tail-like appendages. They were similar to One For All's, but this time far redder. Izuku's mouth was half-open in a smirk as his gaze was hidden. Another glow swept outwards through the appendages.

_Kagunes._

"Now," he said softly, raising his deranged black, red, white, and green gaze to grin at All For One. "It's _my_ turn."

He cracked another finger.

His kagune swayed for a minute, then swept forward, the ends of all four pointing straight at the man. All For One tipped back his head, spit slinging from his jaw, unable to see his eyes through the mass covering them, and roared. 

Izuku darted forward, leaping up and coming down in a powerful punch. It clashed with All For One's, creating sparks in the air as he flew back from the impact. Izuku turned the momentum so he went behind the man, kagune sweeping down in a spear-like motion. 

All For One turned in time to stop them with his own mass, but it clung off with a deep scratch in it. Izuku's manic smirk never left his face as he dropped down, sweeping under the man to come back up and slice a deep gash across his back. It immediately began leaking blood.

"Izuku!" he snarled, blocking another attack.

Izuku jumped back into the air, two kagune growing and darting straight for the man. The other two grew as well, reaching to touch the floor to keep him steady in the air. After a second, he dropped to the ground in a crouch with his kagune behind him, the other two pulled back. There was a huge cloud of smoke in front of him, blocking the view. 

"IZUKU!"

The boy in question darted out of the way as All For One came charging out of the mist, heading straight for him. He got another slash across his back, darting out of the way of another attack.

All For One leaped for him again, and Izuku's kagune stretched out and blocked the attack, throwing the man back. Izuku used them to vault himself forward to the other side, ducking under a wide attack and using his kagune to block another swipe.

The supervillain gathered his mass and aimed it straight at Izuku for a heavy punch, but Izuku's kagune converged into his own point as he aimed a powerful punch of his own up at the mass. 

It broke through it, severing the mass from the man and flinging it across the room. 

"IZUKU!" 

Izuku leaped into the air again, spread-eagling with his kagune in the same motion, before pulling himself into a crouch and swinging his kagune down at All For One in a vicious hit. There was a huge bang and another cloud of smoke.

When it cleared, All For One laid in the middle of a huge crater in the floor, half of his body uncovered from Izuku's attack with his kagune. Izuku walked up from behind the man, stopping just outside the crater. His kagune swayed behind him, another glow sweeping through.

One of the kagune whipped out, shooting forward and piercing straight through All For One's arm and into the floor.

His voice was deathly quiet, almost a chuckle. He cracked his index finger. "What's one thousand minus seven?"

All For One choked and screamed, not answering. 

Another pierce. Another scream.

"I'll ask again. What's one thousand minus seven?"

No reply.

He twisted his kagune in the wound.

Tears dripped from All For One's eyes as he choked out. "993," he stuttered. "986,"

By now, Izuku sat on his back, all four of his kagune embedded onto the floor, going through the villain's limbs. Blood dripped out all around them, and Izuku watched the pathetic man squirm underneath him. He had long since lost his mask.

Izuku sat up, a small smile on his lips. "You tried to devour me."

His one black and red eye gleamed, a glow sweeping through the cracks briefly. 

"So you have no room to complain,"

He reached down.

"If I eat you, do you?"

* * *

_A bite._

_A swallow._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next up: the children burst into the room to find now what they were expecting  
> this scene was interesting to write. I'm happy with the way it turned out. to end up writing it, i played the same fight scene and paused it every two seconds to get it right


	3. now you see

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> izuku found

There were the intense sounds of fighting from within the room, and the walls and floor even shook at one point. 

There was screaming. All For One called Izuku's name more than once, none too quietly each time. Through the sounds of fighting, they couldn't hear much more. There was screaming, this time not from Izuku, and the sound of... eating?

Aizawa felt faint.

He had succeeded. He was eating his problem child.

All Might hadn't been able to open the door yet, and he was preparing to launch a giant fist to forcefully smash them open. Aizawa was tensed, as were the rest of the kids, prepared to fight whatever was inside the room. 

Seconds before the symbol of peace could smash open the door, something from inside yanked it open. 

There was the sound of a manic giggle before a white blur was rushing past them with enough speed for a breeze to whip at the student's clothes. It reached the end of the hall in seconds but paused in its run at the end of the hall. 

"I-Izuku," A distorted, cracked voice groaned from inside of the room. There was the sound of scraping, of _something_ dragging itself across the floor. Aizawa dragged his gaze to the entrance of the door. He almost vomited. 

A completely ravaged, bloody corpse dragged itself to the doorway. Blood pooled out around it, skid marks of it behind the thing. The pile of flesh. There was rounded shape at the front of it, which was most likely its head. It was split in the middle, enough that the white bone of the skull could be seen. From behind it, black fabric mixed with a writhing, pulsating mass. Bones stuck out in random spots, the edge of a femur visible at one point. 

It had been dragging itself out with a single -what once was- arm, though the skin had been ripped off in multiple spots and the bones of the fingers could be seen. Bloody, mangled claws dug into the tiled floor, managing enough force to move the disgusting, gut-wrenching pile forward.

As Aizawa struggled to hold in the contents of his stomach, it gave a _god awful_ creaking noise as the purple, pulsating thing began moving. It bubbled as it extended outwards, but as it moved, the glow became slowly fainter. 

A couple of kids vomited. 

"C-c...c-come bacK-kK, I-i-" it cut it's distorted mess of a voice off as another shudder wracked through the monster. "w-W-wWai-itT f-FffF-for-rR m-MmmM-Ee."

Aizawa dragged his gaze away from the cursed creature at the sight of movement. 

The white-haired figure had turned and was walking back towards them slowly. 

Aizawa realized with a jolt it was Midoriya. 

He was wearing a loose, high collared black shirt with sleeves that reached about his elbows. The collar was a trench-coat-like cut, hiding his neck and stopping just under his chin. It had odd, black metallic designs on the front and back that shone, four reaching from opposite directions to curl inward towards the upper center of the shirt. On the bottom of the sleeves were two small white arrows on top of each other. He had on black shorts that stopped at his knee, also loose. They had a bit of a peculiar pattern on the side as well. 

The loose shirt and shorts were worn over top a skin-tight bodysuit. On the wrists were two white circles that wrapped around the wrist, the same with the bottom of the suit above his ankles. For shoes, he had dark grey tight-fitting ankle boots, starting right where the bodysuit stopped, with raised black platforms on the heel of the foot. His footsteps were soft against the ground. His gaze was hidden by his pale, snow-white curls. 

Midoriya ignored those around him, moving through the path that had been cleared. He stopped in front of the mass on the floor, staring down at it impassively. The mass gurgled. 

"I-Izu-kk-UUu-" it croaked. 

Instead of replying, Midoriya inclined his head to the side and raised a hand to hit the side of it a few times. His nails were black. 

Aizawa blinked in confusion at his actions. 

Midoriya raised his hand, using his thumb to crack his index finger with a loud _snap._ Then he reached up, and into his ear, and pulled out a writhing, bright red centipede. 

A few more kids puked.

Midoriya dropped the centipede to the ground, his gaze still hidden. "Y'know," his voice was raspy, far darker than it should ever be. "Toga gave me a present before she kicked the bucket."

The monster responded to the sound of his voice, the purple mass raising up as if to gaze at the boy. It waited, imploring. 

Midoriya reached into a hidden pocket in his shorts, pulling out what looked to be a mask. It was made of leather, though not much more could be told of it from the way it was held. Carelessly. 

"S-ssS-hO-wwWW mMm-E." it snapped creakily. Another pulse ran through the purple mass. 

Midoriya gave a faint smile, before grabbing the edges of the mask and raising it to his feet, easily doing the clasp at the back and dropping his hands. A black, leathery mask covered most of his face, except for a single eye. It had a black eyepatch and a giant toothy grin on the front. There was a zipper in the corner of the grin, though Aizawa didn't want to know why. 

The mass seemed to see, then the worst sound Aizawa had ever heard wheezed through the hall. After a minute of the grating sound, he realized it was a _laugh. The monster was laughing._ It sounded amused. 

"̵̪̰̖̫̮̪̙̹͒̀W̶̨̨͖̺̏̾̐̅̉͜h̵̡̧̧͔̹̪̞̎̽̽̿̎̀̒͘̕a̵̛̘̭͑̎̀̍̀͝t̴̟̰̜̩̟̼̜̀͗͑͒̽̽͂̄͜'̴̪͚͕̥͂s̵̪̮̹̦̔͂̈́̾̊̀̀͆͂̈͝ ̵̢̧̛̝̹͚͓̘͍͉̂̌̈́̎̓̑̇̃̔̚o̸̟͖͍̩̤̬̭̼̼̠͌ͅn̶̛̤̙̻̬̗̤̘͒̒̆̍̈́̈̉̋̕̕ͅe̷͈͈̞̣͙͍̰͎̚͝ ̴̢͚̜̖͓͚́͗͛͝ͅt̴̨̡̛͖͔͓͑̍̓͌͊̉͑̚h̷̨̢͈̰̳̲̭̪̯͛͌̀̊̊̉̊ó̵̺̭͕͇̦̞̱͇̖̖̘u̴̙͔͍̞͒s̸̮͍̫̫̞̺͗̐̄͜ȃ̵̮̟͉̥̃̅̎̑̏̽͝n̴̙̭̣͎̩̯̐͑́ͅͅď̴̡͖̟͓̊̐͘ ̷͕̳͌̽̈́m̴͚̘̈̇̽̿̈́́i̵͈͙̬̤̖͖̎̃̈͌͘n̴̢̨͙̪̬̠̟̜̣̱͍͗̊̈̏͘͘u̵̖͙͍̖̇̓̇̈́̐̒̔͘s̵̡̢͈̥̝̙͈̮̈́̉̒͌̈́̿̈͗̐ ̷̧̻̥̙̣̯̩͍̹̔͆̓͝ͅͅs̶̡̘͙̱̰͈̩̤̱̎̇̈́͋̇͒e̴̤̪̙̘̯̩̦̘̊͋̂͆v̴̧͚͉̬̌̌̔̑̔̔͊e̴͚̥̻̞͌͘͝n̵̘̓̚?̶̫̘̺̞̉̊͝͠"̸̱̘̥͉̊̽̕͝

Midoriya froze at the words before he began to radiate murderous energy. His curls still hid his eye from sight. " _Nine hundred ninety-three._ "

Then he raised one of his booted feet and slammed it down right into the place where the head of the monster would be. It screamed a sound that had everyone flinching away and covering their ears. It was a high-pitched ringing sound, threatening to burst eardrums. Everyone squeezed their eyes shut tight, hands clamped over their ears.

Everyone except for Midoriya. 

After a minute, it fell silent. The purple mass on the disgusting sight of the corpse died, disintegrating into nothing more than dust. 

* * *

Izuku raised his head, turning it to look at Aizawa. 

But it was wrong. 

Instead of the usual warm, summery green gaze, there was a black sclera with a red pupil. Red cracks spiderwebbed outwards from the pupil, through the sclera, even spreading to outside on the skin. 

"Midoriya?" Aizawa asked. Hesitant. 

Izuku blinked at him, before turning to walk back down the hall. He was leaving this place and never returning. Besides a now fully developed hate of checkered tile patterns and urge to eat whatever stopped him, he needed out because he was on the verge of a breakdown. 

He noticed the bloodstains on the walls.

The smears on the floor. 

He blinked lazily at them, keeping his pace steady. He had to admit, he was a fan of the mask. But he had lied a bit. It wasn't really a _gift,_ more something Izuku saw on Toga that he wanted. A trophy to celebrate her death. She hadn't been seen in it yet, so no one would really recognize it. 

He felt like it suited him better. 

Izuku finally saw light ahead of him, and the entrance opened up to reveal a ravaged area, the battle long over. Heroes and medical personnel milled about, trying to get everyone to safety. Izuku spotted Sir Nighteye on a stretcher.

For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to care. 

He felt empty. Nothing was really piercing the bubble around him. 

Izuku liked the void. 

He was sure he looked odd, walking out of the entrance looking nothing like the boy that went in. And not just because of his changed outfit. Everything had changed. _He_ had changed. 

There wasn't any going back from it, either. 

"Hey! It's another villain!" Someone shouted, and Izuku knew they were gesturing to him. 

He almost pondered whether he really was a villain at this point. He had killed three villains. Granted, one of them had been a bitch who had an obsession with counting down from one thousand by sevens and cracking his knuckles -one that Izuku had now picked up. And the other had completely ruined checker patterns for him. 

They hadn't even tasted that great. 

"Villain, stop!" 

No thanks. 

"Wait! Midoriya, stop!" 

Aizawa had run back out, followed close by All Might. The other students of the class were following them at fast paces. Izuku could pick out their scents, moving at a rapid pace through the nightmarish halls of the building. 

Didn't really know why he could smell people, but that was something for another time. 

"Is that _Izuku Midoriya?_ " Someone asked incredulously. 

Izuku almost snorted. Don't sound so surprised. He was nearing the edge of the crime scene, about to hop a fence and get the hell out of there. He needed to take an independent breather before he snapped someone's neck. That'd be awkward to explain. 

To who?

Izuku paused at the edge of the property, peering at a fence in front of him, and a few feet from the other side. He could probably scale the building, though he may or may not need help from his kagune. He thought he could do it without, though. 

One way to find out. 

As he mentally prepared himself to jump, someone grabbed his arm tightly. Izuku froze, sucking in a harsh breath at the not-so-gentle grip. In fear, muttered the first things that came to his mind. 

"Five hundred thirty-five," 

Then the someone who had a grip tried to yank him. 

Hell no. Not again. He wasn't in a chair. He didn't have chains preventing him from moving. He was not letting it happen _ever_ again. 

Izuku turned, pulling back with intense strength on his wrist. The person did exactly what he had assumed: held on. As they stumbled forward, their faces came into contact with Izuku's kneecap, and he felt their nose shift under the hit. 

Releasing his grip, they cried out and stumbled back, reaching up with two hands to clutch at their nose as blood dropped to the ground in front of them. Izuku couldn't quite bring himself to care, unfortunately. 

Mentally bristling, Izuku turned and leaped up, easily jumping over the fence and darting down the alleyway. It emerged onto an empty backstreet, which he sprinted down. Darting into the next alleyway, he jumped up a fire escape and made it to the roof of the building. His heart was beating faster than normal, but that was more because of the fear of the person grabbing his arm.

At least it wasn't his wrist. If it was, he might have actually turned and snapped their neck. He didn't give himself any guarantees, at this point. 

His head hurt. His body ached with phantom pain. He felt on the verge of dropping. 

But if he did, he had the fear he would wake up back in that god-awful place. This was all just a fever dream spurred on by that awful man. 

Izuku dragged a hand down his face, relishing in the feel of the mask over his face. For some reason, he just... craved it. The anonymity it would bring. He had essentially been dragged into that place and walked out a different person.

No, not essentially. 

He _had._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i haven't decided if i want zuki to pull a kaneki and elope with aogiri, or maybe.... hmm...


	4. that i'll never return

Three days later, Izuku Midoriya was seen again. 

* * *

Izuku had decided to lay low for a few days. Take a minute for himself. Make sure he didn't implode as soon as he came into contact with another large group of people. Now, wouldn't _that_ be a spectacle to see?

The rusted golden-boy snapping. 

If only it were possible.

The golden boy was gone. 

After three days, Izuku decided he had to appear at one time. Might as well pick a rather lovely Thursday to dramatically reappear. 

His dramatic reappearance consisted of showing up with his uniform sans the tie. He had hidden away his mask and suit he had gotten from Kamino. Very theatrical. Izuku took great pity on the poor souls unable to lay witness with their own two eyes.

His newfound sarcasm was another trait he had picked up. Before the whole Kamino incident, he had never dared use sarcasm, even in his own mind. He had been conditioned to think it rude, unbecoming of a hero. 

Now that he had left those aspirations behind? 

God have mercy. 

He simply walked in the gates of the school, hands in his pocket, and a new bag over his shoulder. It was similar to Todoroki's but black. He had taken one look at his garish backpack from before and given it a proper burial in the dumpster. 

Izuku hummed a quiet tune to himself as he walked into the building, taking the stairs and slowly climbing up to make his way to his principal's office. Saved the hassle of going into class and having Aizawa send him there anyway. 

The walk was quiet and serene. He was glad to make it alone. 

After arriving, Izuku raised one hand and knocked three times on the door. A week ago, he would have been fretting over it and hesitant to knock once as softly as humanly possible. To the point it wasn't even a knock. Now he didn't even flinch. 

"Come in!" Came the cheery reply.

Izuku opened to door and stepped inside, closing it behind him. 

Nedzu's smile faltered slightly. "Midoriya. It's good to see you again."

Izuku shrugged in response. "I figured I should come here instead of just going to class."

The rat nodded. "Right choice. It's a nice thing Tsukauchi happens to be in the building today. We'll call him, All Might, and Aizawa up to ask you some questions. While we're waiting, why don't you take a seat? Would you like some tea?"

Izuku wordlessly shook his head before walking over to a grey couch, sitting down. He gazed at the black glass coffee table passively. His mind was blank. Not much to think on. But he needed a topic lest he start doing something... unsavory. 

He had heard about dorms happening for Yuuei. He wondered if he would be required to go to them. That could pose a problem. He was starting to get used to this feeling of eating others, but the dorms wouldn't exactly make things easy for him. 

What a pain. 

But in order to go to the dorms, he would need his mother's permission. He could vaguely remember her being displeased with how his education at Yuuei was going, so she might not be keen on them. 

She might even pull him out completely.

Why didn't that bother him?

Before Izuku could think more on it, the door to the room opened and three figures shuffled inside. He turned his head to look at them curiously. Aizawa, Tsukauchi, and All Might. When the door closed, All Might became a skeleton once more. Aizawa looked worried, Tsukauchi was tired. 

For some reason, they made him uneasy. 

"How are you doing today, Midoriya?" Tsukauchi greeted politely as he walked over to sit on the couch opposite him. He took off his hat and pulled out a notebook from a pocket of his grey trenchcoat. 

"Fine." Izuku replied tonelessly. 

Aizawa and All Might looked confused but went to stand in front of Nedzu's desk, not taking a seat. 

"Alright. I need a statement from you about the events of Kamino Ward. However, if it is too difficult for you to speak on, we can bring in someone who's quirk is to watch and project memories."

"I can speak." There was no way he was letting someone look through his memories. That was unacceptable in every dimension. 

Tsukauchi nodded, clicking a pen and flipping to a specific page. "What happened in the training camp leading up to this?"

"Villains invaded, I managed to defeat Muscular on the mountain and save Koda, and we were running back. Bakugou had been taken, and Tokoyami, and with Todoroki and Shoji, I was able to get back Tokoyami. Bakugou was seconds from being taken through the portal after he returned, and at the last second I switched places with him." Izuku said easily, not pausing or showing any emotion. 

"Take me through what happened in the days you were missing." 

"I woke up in the room you found me in, and I was kept there for the days." It was technically the truth. His quirk couldn't pick up lies by omission. 

Tsukauchi raised an eyebrow. "Were you interacted with?"

"For food and drink." Ommission, his mind sung. 

Tsukuachi nodded. "What about the centipede?"

Izuku's hands went clammy and he forced his breathing to stay calm and to remain nonchalant. "Pardon?"

"During a staff meeting, a laptop was delivered. When it was opened, there was a call with All For One. In the background, your screaming could be heard. One thing you said was 'centipede', and there are alleged reports of you pulling a centipede out of your ear during your escape."

 _You aren't there. You aren't there, dammit. They don't know anything. Don't let them find out._ "I would prefer not to speak on that subject." 

"We need your account."

"And I'm not giving it."

A tense silence settled over the room. Aizawa and All Might looked shell-shocked at his behavior. 

The golden boy was gone. 

* * *

Izuku was released soon after.

He walked back to class with Aizawa, though he made sure to stay a step behind the man the entire time. Not to be shy or anxious. To make sure he wasn't able to attack a blind spot. 

Aizawa said nothing as he opened the door to the classroom, gesturing for Izuku to go first. 

Izuku didn't look at him as he passed, making his way through the room and to his seat. The quiet chatter of students vanished instantly, and Izuku could feel multiple sets of eyes boring into him. He did his best to ignore it and sat down, placing his bag on the floor. 

"Today we'll be learning about underground heroes," Aizawa announced. 

Izuku diligently took his notebook out of his bag and grabbed his pencil, though he didn't feel like taking notes. He was ahead of all of his classes. He had taken high school classes in his spare time, so he had technically already gotten his diploma. He took college courses currently. 

It was peculiar.

Homeroom used to be his favorite class of the day. Now, it just seemed boring. Unnecessary. 

Funny how things changed. 

After a minute, Izuku's attention wandered and he tuned out of whatever was going on. Another perk of being a hero-geek: he knew everything Aizawa was teaching. Short of actually going out and experiencing things, he had everything down. 

Izuku drew tiny doodles in the corner of his page, not really aware of what he was doing. He noticed the stares on him but chose to ignore them. They didn't really matter. Let them stare if they wanted. 

After an agonizingly long class, the bell rang and they were dismissed to lunch. Izuku packed his things in his bag but paused as his gaze snagged on something in the corner of his vision. It was the doodle from his bag. 

Izuku opened the page again, focusing on the mindless doodle from earlier.

A centipede curled around a spider lily, perfectly shaded with a meticulous amount of detail. 

The notebook fell from his hands, hitting the floor. Izuku, gaze horrified and wide, ran forward and out of the room, ignoring the calls of his name. He sprinted through the hall, mind spinning, and not sure where he was going. 

Izuku blinked, and then he was on the roof of the school. He collapsed, back against the wall next to the door. He curled in on himself, hands coming up to tangle in his hair as he struggled to control his breathing. He watched, knees pulled up to his chest, as small droplets of something wet hit the ground. A sprinkle of rain? 

No, not rain, Izuku realized. 

_Him._

He was crying. But... why? 

Izuku looked up, eyes catching on the metal railing in front of him. Not even realizing it, he was standing at the railing, hands gripping it with the strength of a vice as he looked down at the ground below. 

He had control of himself. 

Why not?

He tightened his grip as he vaulted himself over the rail.

* * *

Todoroki furrowed his eyebrow as Midoriya dropped his notebook in apparent horror. The small boy turned and ran out of the room, leaving his bag on his chair and notebook on the ground. 

What could have scared him so badly?

The rest of the class seemed to have the same idea. Todoroki decided to be the brave one, walking over and stopping to pick up the notebook. There was a pencil on the specific page, and he flipped it open. 

In the corner, there was a detailed drawing of a centipede curled around a spider lily. 

Todoroki was reminded of his friend pulling a centipede out of his ear. 

That's-

Not good. 

Todoroki frowned as he closed the notebook and placed it carefully in his friend's bag. He was a little sad about the change. The yellow backpack had always been so loud, but it was just so natural of someone like Midoriya to have it. 

The class was murmuring to themselves, clearly worried. Uraraka and Iida were the worst off, and Tsuyu was trying to comfort Uraraka without much luck. Todoroki sighed, closing Midoriya's bag. He wanted to find him, but he didn't know if his company would be appreciated. 

Biting his lip, Todoroki decided to leave it be for now.

* * *

Izuku stood up from the concrete, brushing his pants off. Blood was in a thick puddle on the concrete, traveling along the ridges. 

"That was useless."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter we get a fighting exercise!!!  
> and the lov isn't staying silent much longer~


	5. to how i was before

Uraraka was worried. 

Very, very worried. 

Like, not oh-i-sure-hope-everything-is-fine worried. Like oh-if-everything-is-not-fine-i-am-going-to-eat-my-fridge worried. 

There was something very wrong with her best friend. He came out of Kamino a new person. Her Izuku was gone. In his place was this white-haired, strange, cold boy who had his name and nothing else. 

Uraraka remembered Izuku before the training camp incident before any of this mess had exploded in their faces. He was so sweet. His dorky, lopsided grin could lit up a room, and his eyes were painfully bright. So filled with sparks and determination. He had broccoli for hair and loved to write things down in his notebook. He was introverted, but a real cinnamon roll, and had the cutest stutter. He loved heroes and almost forgot how to talk when he got excited. 

He was always happy to help, always willing to lend a hand wherever he was needed. He liked naps but never slept much, and had some inner fire that burned for himself and his friends. He was the boy who would give Tsuyu blankets when she was cold, the boy who was always giving Kirishima fist-bumps, the boy who loved to sign with Kouda, the boy who would have long-winded conversations with Shoji.

He was the boy who never gave up on his attempts on being friends with Bakugou, the boy who would help Kaminari play stupid pranks. He was the boy who would help Satou bake, keep Todoroki company without being asked, inquire about how Iida and Uraraka were doing daily. He was the boy who played music with Jirou despite being awful, the boy who would help Sero when his tape got stuck, the boy who would always compliment Aoyama, the boy who would have girl's nights and play cards with Yaoyorozu. 

He was the boy who practices sparring with Ojiro, who would sit with Tokoyami and read dark poetry with him, who would pet Dark Shadow, the boy who would never fail to try and rope in Hagakure, the boy who never let anyone be alone. 

_This was not that boy._

This boy, this, this, wannabe Midoriya was aloof. He vanished for three days. He returned with a blank look on his face and a cloudy haze in his eyes. His hair was a pale, stark-white and his canines were noticeably sharp. He had completely foregone the tie on the uniform and didn't pay attention in class.

The first day back, when he was packing up to leave without a single word to anyone, in a brand new bag that was nothing compared to his loud yellow one, his gaze snagged on something in his notebook.

Whatever he saw was enough to make him drop his notebook. Instead of apologizing, or even looking at anyone, he simply ran out of the classroom. Todoroki had picked it up, furrowed his brow at the drawing, then packed away the rest of his things. Midoriya had collected them sometime between that period and the next because he showed up to the next class with all of his supplies. 

Uraraka wanted her best friend back. 

She was going to stay by his side no matter what. Because that was exactly what he would do for her. He would never leave her alone, never let her be sad. He would give her food and presents and attention. 

Uraraka was going to do the exact same thing. 

Iida agreed with her, and Todoroki and Tsu wanted to help as much as them. The rest of the class had been roped into it, somehow. They hadn't forgotten the kindness the greenette had shown to them daily. 

"Today, we'll be doing a battle exercise. To continue on our underground heroes unit, we'll be dealing with unfair fights. Being outnumbered is incredibly common when one is working in the underground." Aizawa announced. 

The fake Midoriya sat in his seat, looking at him with poorly concealed boredom. He was resting the side of his face in his palm, his other hand resting on top of the closed cover of a new notebook. His white curls almost hid his blank gaze.

Uraraka hadn't forgotten how they had looked in Kamino. 

"All Might will be assisting in the exercise. We'll form teams of six. One person will be separated and face off against the rest of them. You'll be placed in the tight city zone, and the goal is for the one person to see how long they can last. The person and team of five will start from opposite ends. The team will focus on trying to take the solo player out, while the solo player will focus on getting out as many team members as they can."

Midoriya didn't seem interested in the slightest. It was just so _wrong._ Normally, Midoriay would practically be bursting at the seams to get out and play on his assigned team. He liked teamwork and was half-decent at being stealthy. 

"Getting out consists of being unable to continue, being pushed outside of the city zone, or having this ribbon taken from them." Aizawa held up a white strip of fabric. "Each person will tie this somewhere on the outside of their person. It does not have to be in full view, but it cannot be somewhere unreachable. You can pick teams. Understand?"

The class nodded. 

"Go."

Uraraka sprang from her seat, grabbing Iida and walking over to Midoriya. She was smarter than to grab him. "Deku, wanna be on a team with us?"

Midoriya jolted up, turning and tilting his head to the side in surprise. "Um, sure." 

Uraraka grinned at him. "Great! Todoroki and Tsu are coming, too."

Sure enough, the two of them had appeared. Tsu smiled and waved, and Todoroki gave a short incline of his head forward. 

Uraraka clapped. She turned, walking over to the next person she wanted. "Bakugou, wanna join our team?"

Personally, Uraraka wasn't the biggest fan of Bakugou. They were friends, and she respected him, but she also thought he was rather brash and rude. He was too violent, too quick to act. But he was also a figure from Midoriya's childhood. He and Midoriya were familiar with each other. He would probably be comfortable around the explosive blonde. 

Bakugou seemed to have the same train of thought. "Fine."

That was the nicest thing he had said to her yet. Depressing, wasn't it?

They returned to the group. Midoriya was standing against his desk, hands in his pockets, looking vaguely uncomfortable. His gaze had dragged over to the window behind them, and he seemed to have zoned out.

"Deku,"

His head snapped back around, gaze locking onto her with a momentarily frightening amount of intensity, before calming as he focused. "Hmm?"

"Do you think we're gonna choose who's gonna be the solo player?" 

Midoriya blinked, before shrugging. His gaze was so dull. The spark of happiness, the fire of determination was gone. It was almost as if it had never existed in the first place. It was so out of place to not have. "I don't know."

Nothing more. Normally, he would gush about statistics and likeliness, and ramble on about who would be the best to go solo. Instead, there was a short response and then nothing. 

Uraraka hated it. 

"Alright. We have two extras. Mineta, join Kaminari's group, Hagakure, over to Yaoyorozu's. The solo runners will be Midoriya, Tokoyami, and Aoyama. Change into your hero costumes and get over to the city." Aizawa ordered. 

Uraraka moved to grab her costume and saw Izuku doing the same. He looked like he was thinking about something.

Uraraka was about to go over, but she blinked and he was gone. 

* * *

Izuku changed in a stall like he normally did, but paused as he contemplated his hero costume. It was just... not working for him. So he sent in a notice and got some minor changes done to it. 

He had changed the forest green to black, made it fit snugly on his body, and capped the sleeves, as well as adding a hood. He had a few grey designs on it. Instead of the clunky gloves, he had gotten black, sleek-fitting ones starting a couple of inches below the sleeves. They were fingerless and turned into a v-cut at the wrists the connected to his middle finger by a silver ring. He had made his belt a deep shade of red, and his boots started on his lower thigh now. They, much like his gloves, began far more form-fitting and sleek, turning into boots with dark red platforms. Around his thighs, an inch below where his boots started, were two dark red pouches. He had kept his silver mask, deciding it wasn't bad. 

He resisted the urge to scrap it all and toss it in the trash. This was his compromise. 

He walked out of the changing room with his mask hanging around his neck, gaze straight ahead. There was a bit of prickling in his lower back, but he stamped down the feeling and ignored it. Not the time, whatever-the-hell-that-part-of-his-body-was.

People were sending him odd gazes, but he didn't pay much mind to them. They could think what they wanted. He wanted a new suit, so he got one. It was as simple as that. No need to kick up a big fuss about it. 

Izuku ignored whatever speech his teachers gave, and wandered off when told to his side of the city-zone. They were starting opposite sides, and the team was allowed to work together. 

This was stealth, though. Pop in and out. Simply enough.

And just because he said that it was probably going to be very complicated. 

Izuku waited for his signal and pulled his hood up. It was an attempt to hide his white hair, which he felt a new urge to keep pristine. Like, if he was stuck with these white locks, might as well make them look decent. He did not want sooty white hair. Yuck.

Running forward, Izuku ducked under a close pipe and avoided smacking face-first into a wall. He grabbed hold of another pipe, making sure it was secure before bringing his foot on top of it and grabbing another.

Within a minute, he had scaled the structure and made it to the top. Tilting his nose up into the air, he took a long sniff. 

It smelled like pollution and disgusting humans. This campus wasn't very green, he had to say. His enhanced senses took great offense to that. Especially to the kids not wearing deodorant. 

Or the children who _bathed in gallons of Axe body spray._

Ignoring those pleasant thoughts, Izuku focused, and was able to pick up the faint scent of Bakugou. It seemed like he would be taking him out first, then. Izuku had decided to tie his white ribbon tight around his ankle, enough so that someone would have to physically force their fingers under the fabric to grab it. It wasn't getting taken any time soon.

Izuku focused on the scent, tracking the waft. It led down multiple alleyways, through dark corners, and into... there! 

The white-haired boy looked around for a second, reaching down to fasten his mask on his face, before leaping and dropping back into the cramped world of pipes and pollution. Izuku caught himself by grabbing a pipe and balancing his foot on the other, taking half a second to balance before setting off at a grueling pace.

Ducking under more pipes and avoiding a hit to a wall was more fun than anything. It was acrobatics, gymnastics, but made it enjoyable for him. His mask glinted in the light, but not enough to be particularly noticeable. 

Izuku made it dance-like, his motions. Fluid, fast, hard to follow. Duck under this pipe, slid out of the way for another, lower your head, stretch your leg, reach and handstand, bend at the waist and hook your legs around the next one. Pull yourself up, roll, run, drift, roll.

Pleased with himself, Izuku was close enough to Bakugou for a need to be careful.

Slowing his movements, he sniffed the air again. The mask had filtration, but not enough to block out scents. Bakugou was close, to the right of the building he was standing next to. 

Izuku leaped up, running silently across the pipes and swinging down. He found a neat, shadowed crevice perfect to crouch in. Balancing with his knees on either side of him and hands gripping the pipe, he leaned down to look at the ground.

Bakugou came into view, ever slouched, and walking slowly. Even if his posture was horrendous, it was clear he was paying attention and alert. There were telltale signs in the way the muscles in his arms were tensed, the way he was walking. 

Izuku narrowed his eyes and caught sight of his ribbon. It was tied tight around his belt. Enough so it looked like it might need to be cut from it. It wasn't a big deal; Izuku just had to incapacitate the boy. 

Closing his eyes for a second, Izuku took in a deep breath and steadied his breathing and heart rate. He didn't want to risk an all-out battle, so he needed to be quick with a combination. 

His eyes snapped open. 

Izuku leaped forward, twisting his body in the air. Bakugou turned, eyes widening. But it was too late. Izuku had won this round. There was nothing more for him to do. That didn't mean he wouldn't try, though.

Izuku's foot slammed into the side of his head with enough force to throw his body like a ragdoll into the wall. There was a wide indent in the wall, and the bricks were cracked and crumbling slightly. Bakugou collapsed onto the ground, head hitting the concrete. Blood started to pool out like a crown.

The white-haired boy paid no mind. Instead, he walked over and knelt down, cutting the ribbon from Bakugou's belt and slipping it into a pouch on his own. Recovery Girl or someone else would come to retrieve him. Izuku had an exercise to win.

He lifted his nose into the air and sniffed again. He smirked mentally as four more scents were coming his way fast. Todoroki, Uraraka, Iida, and Tsuyu. They must have some system set up. 

Izuku turned and climbed back up into his crouching spot from earlier, turning to watch the events unfurl.

Uraraka appeared first, yelping at the sight of Bakugou and running over to kneel down next to him. Biting her lip, her hands flitted uselessly over Bakugou's body. "Bakugou! Bakugou, can you respond?"

Izuku had time. 

Her ribbon was tied to her lower arm, just below her elbow. An easy spot to reach. And if he took care of this now, he could lure the rest of them in one by one. Like flies to a spider's web. 

Izuku jumped down, reaching out in a flash to grab Uraraka's arm at the same time he placed his knee in between her shoulder blades. He yanked her arm back, not hard enough to break, but enough to hurt like all hell.

Uraraka screamed, but Izuku ignored it to grab her ribbon. Snatching it, he released his grip on her arm and leaped back, higher than he should be able to go. Into a different hiding spot, but a better one than the last. Uraraka hadn't seen him. 

Todoroki, Iida, and Tsuyu were moving faster, most likely spurred by the sounds of her screams. Going by their scents, Izuku guessed Iida would be the next one to arrive. But they were close; too close. He didn't want to face all of them at the same time. 

He picked out the one most separated from the others: Tsuyu. He could take her out, and by the time the others realized something was wrong, he could be gone and moving on. 

Izuku turned, darting forward and running across the next pipe. Reaching out and grabbing one waist height, he held on tight as he dropped and swung under it, landing on a different pipe to run across. He was just grateful they all supported his body weight, honestly. 

He was close to Tsuyu. Closer to her than she was to anyone else. He should have ample time to take her ribbon and get out of there. 

After a vaulted jump over another pipe, she came into view. She was running fast, using her tongue to stick to pipes. Her ribbon was around her forehead, like the headbands in the Sports Festival.

That seemed so far from now. Like it happened years, instead of mere months, ago. So many things had changed since that had happened. Too much had changed. Izuku wished he could go back in time and stop any of it from happening. 

Izuku trailed after her, thinking of a new plan. He could use one of his scentless smoke bombs, so it wouldn't mess with him. But as another with an animal quirk, she might be able to use her scent. 

Though, if that was the case, how had she not found him yet?

Ignoring it, Izuku decided he only lived once and leaped forward, leg outstretched. His foot crashed into the middle of Tsuyu's back, tossing her down. She collided heavily with a pipe, smacking her forehead loudly. A bit of blood trickled down. 

Izuku wanted it.

Nope.

Izuku held her in place, reaching down the untie the ribbon and snatch it, placing it in his pouch. Stepping back, he jumped again and began running down another pipe. He needed to take Todoroki and Iida's ribbons next. 

He should take out Iida first. His speed could prove to be an annoying factor for him. 

Izuku sniffed the air and was disappointed to find their scents converged with two others. They had found Uraraka and Bakugou, it seemed. That was annoying. At least Uraraka couldn't fight since he had nearly broken her arm and taken her ribbon. 

After a minute, Izuku had returned. He hid in the darkness, watching the three stand with each other next to Bakugou. 

"This is so... vicious," Uraraka whispered. Tears were dripping down her face. "This isn't like him at all."

Iida shook his head. "I've never seen him do anything this violent, even when fighting villains. If he wouldn't do this to a villain, how could he do this to one of his fellow hero course students? I fear he is not the same as he was before Kamino."

Todoroki simply stared at Bakugou. "Trauma does funny things, sometimes."

Interesting take on it. 

"But he would never hurt someone like this! It looks like he slammed Bakugou into the wall! Look at the damage there is to the bricks. And Bakugou is bleeding heavily from head wounds, and he's got a concussion. Even if this was accidental, he would have stopped the exercise himself to get Bakugou help." Uraraka cried. 

Izuku resisted the urge to roll his eyes. 

"We should go alert the others about this and stop the exercise," Iida said, standing. His ribbon was around his ankle. 

"I'll find Tsuyu." Todoroki's ribbon was around his neck. Easy enough to grab. He just had to be quick. 

Izuku grabbed one of his scentless smoke bombs, lobbing it in between the three of them. It exploded upon impact with the ground, filling the air with grey, vision blocking mist. Izuku could navigate it, though.

There were cries of surprise from Iida and Uraraka. Izuku dropped down, swing his foot out in a wide arc. It came into contact with Iida's ankle, knocking him to the ground. Izuku's hand snapped out, snatching the ribbon from his ankle and throwing it into his pouch. 

Izuku turned, lunging forward with his hand outstretched. Todoroki seemed to expect it and brought up a wall of ice to stop him. Izuku stopped himself at the last second, glancing at the wall in front of him impassively. 

He stood there for a second. Then he jumped up, going farther than should be possible without a quirk. He sank back down inside the wall, coming face-to-face with Todoroki. Without hesitating for a second, Izuku reached out and harshly hit the side of his neck. 

Todoroki's eyes rolled back in his head as he crumpled to the ground, and for some reason, Izuku reached out and caught him in a bridal carry. He set him gently on the ground, reaching to grab his headband. He deposited it in his pouch and stood, glancing at the wall of ice. It was pretty, he would give it that. And strong, if knocking on it was any indication.

Izuku reached up, tapping at the black earpiece he had been outfitted with. 

"All five members have been dispatched. The solo player wins."


	6. so let me live

Aizawa was appalled.

He didn't-

He never-

_How?_

He wouldn't have been surprised if Bakugou had done this in the exercise, but _Midoriya?_ That kid had once started crying because one of his classmates had killed a grasshopper on accident. 

There's just no way he would be able to do something like this.

He had gotten the alert that the exercise had finished about ten minutes after it had started. Aizawa found it a little strange that the others hadn't called to report it in too, but he brushed it off. 

He made his way into the city zone, followed by Recovery Girl, just as Midoriya was walking out. The kid didn't even spare him a _glance_ as he walked by. That was not a Midoriya thing. Midoriya, before all of this, would have been frantic and offering to go with them to help find his classmates and get them help if they needed it.

Or, if no one was hurt, he would be walking out with all of them, a huge grin on his face, swapping strategies. 

Neither of these two things was happening right now, and Aizawa didn't have the faintest idea of why not. 

But-

But _this?_

After a while of searching, Asui had contacted them and said that her arm was dislocated and she was pretty sure her nose was fractured. That was already a bad omen. She said she knew where the others were, and activated the tracker on her earpiece. 

She had gotten to the others, and Aizawa wasn't prepared for what he would see.

Todoroki was the least harmed of them all, laying unconscious on the ground behind a wall of ice. Uraraka was vaguely unharmed, though her shoulder was a little dislocated, but Iida had been viciously knocked to the ground, which gave him a minor concussion, and the backs of his engines had slammed into the concrete. 

Bakugou was another story.

The kid was laying face down on the ground, unresponsive, with blood in a large awful pool around his head. It seemed to be coming from the right side of his head, and the _brick_ wall, made of _bricks_ was dented beside them, some of them even cracked and a couple with drops of blood.

This was so violent, so _brutal,_ so _not-Midoriya_ that it hurt. 

That white-haired boy would never be their Midoriya. Never again. 

At this point, Aizawa didn't even know if their Midoriya even existed anymore.

* * *

Izuku hummed a quiet tune to himself as he walked away from the alley, blood staining his mouth, front, and hands. 

There was a brutalized body behind him, bones scattered and ribcage ripped open. No internal organs remained, and most of their muscle was gone. Their head was separated from their body, though their brain was still intact. The same couldn't be said for their tongue, eyes, and face in general.

It was a quiet night, the crescent moon out and shining brightly. It cast a gentle glow over the streets and back alleyways, making them seem more welcoming than they actually were. Some might even dare to call it peaceful. 

"Isn't this a mess?"

Izuku stilled, stopping his humming as his senses sharpened to try and figure out what was behind him. That same feeling prickled in his lower back, ready for him to use at any given moment. 

"Don't worry. I won't tell." 

Izuku turned, taking in the figure.

He was pleasantly surprised to find the burnt husk that was Dabi. The man's staples glinted in the moonlight, and his gaze almost seemed to glow turqoise. That could also be a product of his quirk, though. 

"What do you want?" Izuku asked cautiously, raising an eyebrow. At least his eye wasn't black and red anymore. 

Dabi grinned, which looked rather eery in the setting. A man with horrible burn scars and glowing turqoise eyes in a dark alleyway at two in the morning, a ravaged corpse in front of him and blood staining the ground and walls equally. 

Izuku found he didn't very much mind it. 

"I want to make you an offer, little hero."

"Don't call me that." Was Izuku's immediate reply. 

Dabi nodded. "We've figured as much. Kamino changed you, Midoriya. I have a feeling being a hero isn't very appealing to you anymore. All Might doesn't look like the same golden statue of a man."

Izuku narrowed his eyes, but made no move to disagree with him. 

"You can't even remember why you were friends with your classmates. Everything is just going awry on you."

"Get on with it." Izuku growled. 

"All For One is dead. The League of Villains is dead. Gone to the wind, a distant memory of his creation, now vanished." he tilted his head to the side in what was supposed to be an innocent gesture. "It's time for something new."

Izuku was intrigued.

"New... how, exactly?" 

"Shigaraki is forming a new organization, bringing together the remaining members of the League of Villains. His first target to hit is the underground Yakuza boss, Overhaul. Kai Chisaki."

This sounded more fun than anything Izuku had done lately.

"Why tell me?" Izuku had an idea of what was in store. "I assume you don't go out late at night tracking down UA students to tell them all about your plans to take down a Yakuza boss and started a new terrorist organization."

"I don't often find UA students murdering and eating someone in an alleyway." Dabi retorted.

Izuku snorted. "What a fine point."

"I'm giving out the offer. Come join us. We're going to take down hero society and reshape it as a whole."

Izuku nodded. He liked where this was going. "How?"

Dabi stilled. "What?"

"This is the exact same thing you were aiming to accomplish with the League of Villains, and we've seen how well that went. On top of that, with the League of Villains, you possessed an age-old supervillain who was the most powerful man in the world. You had far more power at your fingertips."

Dabi smirked. "Ah, but I disagree. See, All For One may have been an age-old supervillain, and the most powerful man in the world. But if he was all of that and more, what does that say about the one who took him down? The one who killed him?"

Ah. "So you want to form this new organization, and you want me to spearhead it as the one who took down All For One."

"See? You're smart." Dabi chuckled. 

Izuku would be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying this. "I'm intrigued. As you can see, murder doesn't exactly bother me. Though, it's for a cause. I need to eat. I'm not a slathering dog, but rather just a morally ambiguous individual with more power than I should have."

"So what will it take to have you join us, then?" Dabi questioned.

Izuku smiled, all sharp edges and promises of danger. "Make a big splash. Go out, and announce your name to the world. Become something to be feared. Take down someone important, crash an important event, put yourselves out there. As soon as you're established, I'll dive in."

"That sounds fair, Midoriya Izuku."

Izuku blinked slowly, almost similar to a cat. "That doesn't quite concern me. Now, what was the name of this little organization you say you are forming?"

* * *

AOGIRI TREE KILLS TOP TEN PRO-HEROES KAMUI WOODS AND BEST JEANIST

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about the short chapter, but i wanted this to be as dramatic as possible!


	7. sliced and bleeding

It's chaos. 

Best Jeanist and Kamui Woods are dead. Murdered. 

It's because of this chaos no one gets a chance to speak to Midoriya, to pull him aside and shake him and ask what the hell has gone wrong and what they can do to help him. This is a mistake. 

One they will not realize until later. 

The underground is in an uproar, infused with courage from the newly emerged villain organization. _Aogiri Tree,_ they call themselves. 

A group of murderers, the rest call them. They do not seem to care, though. 

Best Jeanist and Kamui Woods were found dead on the floor in the office of the president of the Hero Commission. On her desk lay a blank white postcard, and in the center of it is written in slanted, elegant script is simply _Aogiri Tree_. And in the center, their symbol in black and red ink. 

A bold, bold move. 

Too bold, if one was to ask any of the heroes their opinions on it. 

But they have accomplished their goal: they have brought their name to light and made themselves something the public fears. Best Jeanist and Kamui Woods were both top-ten pro heroes, the strongest, the best of the best. And if they're dead?

No one will stand a chance. 

Yuuei is tense. On edge. The appearance of the new group has been having negative effects on the mental wellbeing of all of the classes, but the ones hit the hardest are the occupants of 1-A. Nightmares, depression, relapses, all of it. 

They live in fear.

Because they were tormented by the League of Villains. They were chased, zoned in on from every direction, injured, hurt by that insipid group of people. And now a new one has risen, already proving themselves to be as stronger, if not stronger than the League. 

Fear is coming back with a new flavor. 

No one appreciates it. 

The dorms have been implemented, and everyone is moving into them that day. They've decided against another mall trip after the events of the last one. Everyone is tense, everyone is on edge, and no one wants to chance anything. 

Uraraka isn't as bubbly, Iida has let up on the scolding, Todoroki is frostier than normal, Bakugou doesn't yell as much, and the class is far more subdued. Mina hasn't dared try to attempt to crack a joke, and the self-proclaimed 'bakusquad' is quieter. The 'dekusquad' is simply drawing more into themselves, becoming more anti-social to anyone not in their immediate circle of friends.

There are bags under everyone's eyes, and test scores are dropping on a steady curve, slowly but surely. No one is very enthusiastic during battle exercises, and they've even grown to be a little fearful.

The only one seemingly unaffected is Midoriya. 

He isn't fazed by anything anymore. The bags that were already present under his eyes don't seem to worsen, and he acts the exact same as he did before the news had broken. It was still miles away from how he was before the Kamino Ward accident. 

_Accident._

Such a bitter, awful word. That's what they were labeling it now, were they? Just condensing everything that happened, all that they went through, into a simple, easy-to-understand word. Accident. 

Because it was an accident that their training camp had been attacked, that people had almost _died,_ that Midoriya had been taken and he had never come back. Midoriya had died in Kamino, and they were calling it an _accident?_

How much worse could it get?

Because it was an accident, and Midoriya was dead, and they were stuck with this god-awful, horrible white-haired embodiment of emptiness. There's _nothing_ left of the real Midoriya inside of him. 

And they were calling it an accident. 

There was nothing _accidental_ about this situation. 

* * *

They're moving into the dorms. 

Everyone is gathering their things from their homes, from their places of comfort, and moving them into a brand new building a five minute walk away from their school building on the campus. Heights Alliance, it's called. 

A nightmare, some prefer to say. 

It takes most of the day for the class to unpack their things, and they're still quiet. Still on edge. Terrified of the slightest noise. Aizawa had noticed, and he knew he needed to speak to them about this. The school wasn't completely slacking, though. Everyone had gone to see Hound Dog, and everyone was going with more appointments. 

Except for Midoriya. 

The boy had simply skipped his appointment, and no one had gotten the chance to corner him about it yet. 

_Yet._

There is no yet.

There is no more time. 

They had their chance to stop it.

_And they let it slip past._

* * *

They're making it better.

To celebrate their first night inside of the dorms, the class is having a movie night. Everyone is going. They had all decided on the innocent pre-quirk era movie My Neighbor Totoro. Simple and sweet. 

The students were reasonably excited, forcing their sadness to the side, if only for the moment. 

Kaminari was setting up the movie while the rest of them grabbed mattresses and blankets and started constructing a pillow fort of sorts. There was popcorn available for those who wanted it, and the students had gathered other snacks. 

At seven sharp, everyone was gathered and comfortable in the common room with the TV on, the movie about to start.

Except for Midoriya. 

His absence wasn't missed.

* * *

Izuku stood in the middle of his empty room. Everything had remained untouched. 

In his hands was a loose suit. A mask was balanced on top of it, grinning at him with its horrible, wretchedly toothed mouth. It was finding amusement in his misfortune. _Who didn't?_

His hands trembled, but it was from the muscle damage more than anything. 

His mind was scarily quiet. Empty. Not sure what to do now in the situation it had found itself faced with. He would have preferred it if it had been screaming at him, shouting, doing _something._

_Telling him what to do._

But the choice was made. 

There wasn't going back. Not this time. 

He set the suit on the desk. Laid it down gently, before shrugging off the jacket he wore. His shirt went next, his pale skin bared to the room. The scars criss-crossing his skin shone in the light as he reached down to take off his socks. Pants. 

He pulled on the bodysuit. He pulled on the shirt that went over it. The shorts. 

And then there was only the mask. Innocently sitting on his desk. Staring up at him. 

Izuku grabbed his phone from next to the suit, switching it on and opening his messages. He paused for a moment, breath caught as the weight of what he was about to do seemed to crash into him. 

Let it.

_There was nothing left to lose._

He typed out a message. 

_Today._

He reached out, grabbing the mask without an ounce of hesitance. Lifting it up, grabbing the clips on the back of it. Staring right back at the grin. His gaze was cold and dead, and yet he couldn't find it within himself to care. 

He did the clips to his mask, fastening it around his head. 

* * *

i̶̢̡̧̲͇͙̳͍̭̳̝͖͙̰͖͖̜̳̹̠̱̜̞̫̮̤̙̟͍̲͔̳͍̟̲̟͗̑̊͆̓͜ͅz̷̢̨̧̞̲̼̯̝̜̝͖̟̤͇̳̬̦̹̠̄͛́̌͑̓̅͛̓͆̐̐̏͊̆ͅų̸̰̣͙̝͔͎͉̜̳̬͇̠̯͕͇̞̰̝̺̠̝͉̼̹͚͉̘̬̏̊ķ̶̧̧̳͓͚̲͎̟̖̰̤̮͕͔̺͎̼̐͆ͅͅụ̷̬̈́̑̏̎ ̷̨̡̥͚͈̟̱͖͍̩̣͈̥̮̬̺͇̻͕͇͉̗̝̞̿͆̋̐̈́̿͑̏̉͋͊̍̃͂͆̈́̈́͆͌̌̏̃͑͘͝͝ͅm̷̨̛̥̝̜̬͖̼͉̙̬̫̬͓̪͆̓̇͒͛̔̆̃̉̆̿́̾̐̈̓̌͌͂͝ḯ̷͉͖͙̦͖͉̲̙̼͕̰͋̈̆̉̓̈͘ͅd̶̡̧̯͎͎̤̝̩͎̥̹̘̖̭̬͍͈͎͎͎͇̦̖̰̰̖̦͔̭͓̃͜ͅo̴̢̼͕̓͑̂̋̈́̈̿͂̆̄̈́̏̎̿̏̈̽̇̄r̵͉̤͔̥̻̳͍̖̦̯̩͚̖̰̬̥͎̭͇̆̒̉̃͌̑̉̉̇̈́͗̐̅̍͘̚͝ͅi̸̙͎̞͙̬͓̹̭̗͇̮̤͔̔́̑ͅy̸̡̢̨̺̘̺̣͕̹͍̭̳̱͓̫̜͚͙̗͉̯͙̱̟̫̝̙̹̮̙͚̩̋͋͘̚͜͜ͅa̵̧͖͍̻̪̜͈̞̺̯͕̘̘̫̮̗̤͊̎̋͛̆͗̇̔̌̉̃͊̈́̈̈̆͋͆͂̅͆̇͊͂͊͘̚͘͘̚̕͝͠͝͝͝͠ ̶̢̡̭̭̳͔̣̖̫̻̞̲̥̭̺̦̩̝̞͕̳͊̉̊̀̈́̆͑̾̈̉̉̑͘͜͜w̷̨̭͙̺̠͍͈̼̺͍̜̤̠̗̰̦̻͚̣̺͇̫̟͖͔͉̳͖͙̯͍̜͉̭͎̻̾ͅą̸̧̛̛̻̮͓̫͕̰̯̫͓̰̬̟͖̩̣̔̑̀̌̌̓̋̉̐̔͆̊̍͛͌̑̂͂̏͌͘̕͠͝s̷̛͇͍̫̤̽̀̉̍͛̈́̌͗̐͑͂͌̋̈͆̿͐̏̊̚̚͘̕̚͝ ̴̨̈́̾̅̿̽̈́̓̉͆̐͒̈̄̐̄̐́̄͋̄̈́̈́͘͘̚͜͝͠d̵͉̟̹̹̤̝͚͔̣͇̪̩̱̍̂̄̚͘͠e̸̡̡̢̡̛̛̬̖͖̜̗̤͇̥̲͈̻͉̦̦̳͖̘̠̻̦͚̯͉͂͗̋̾͂̓͐̓̃̀͑̃̒͗̆͒͋̓̉̐̕̕͜͠ͅa̶̩̮̭͗d̴̢̨̡̡̨̛̖̮̥̜̩͚̘͚͇̖̩͙̺̻̤̖̞̭̗̭̯͓̭̣͉͓͚̦͈͓́̇́͊̍̅͂̐͌̄̏̆̅͊̍̂̉̉̿͂̚̚͝͝͝͠͠ͅͅ


	8. alone in my personal hell.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> gore warning!

Izuku didn't come out of his room the next day for school. 

The class had shrugged it off and assumed it was his way of coping. He was long overdue for a mental health day. Maybe he had finally decided to see Hound Dog like the rest of them and confide in his problems. 

Even if it wasn't, the matter wasn't their business. They would do well enough to leave it alone. 

* * *

_If they had been brave enough, they would have realized the door was unlocked. The room was empty, except for a single white card sitting on the bed innocently. Completely and utterly untouched._

_AOGIRI TREE_

* * *

They weren't brave enough. 

So they trudged off to class, shouldering their packs with weary gazes. They walked to their classroom and gathered within, but the mood was ever so slightly lifted. The movie night had been a good idea, after all. 

So, while they still looked like zombies, their skin was a little less pale, and their gazes had a little more spark in them.

Aizawa had been glad to see it. He hated the idea that his kids were slowly working themselves to death. They were his kids, for god's sake. No matter how much Yamada or Nemuri might make fun of him for saying it, it was true. 

So he hid his smile in his capture weapon, sitting at his desk as the former number one hero wandered into the room. He no longer had the grand gestures of announcing his presence. His retirement had humbled him. 

"We'll be working on super moves today. Change into your hero costumes and meet in gym Gamma." Aizawa announced, and the class nodded while moving. He noticed it at the same time Toshinori did, but beat him to asking.

"Where's Midoriya?"

And god, if his class didn't flinch at the mere _name_ of the boy. 

Bakugou had gotten out of the infirmary the previous day and was cleared for training this morning. He had dark eye bags, and his normal bite wasn't present today. He was still healing emotionally from what Midoriya had done to him in the exercise, clearly. 

Iida had been the brave one in the class. "He didn't come out of his room this morning. We think he's just taking a day for himself."

Aizawa nodded. God knows the kid needed it.

"Get changed."

* * *

They had just gathered. Aizawa had just finished explaining what was going on, and the other teachers were standing around waiting to start.

That's when they felt it. The prickling along their backs. The same ones they had come to associate with danger and all other things bad. Cementoss had already prepared the strange formation of rocks behind them, and everyone turned at the same time. 

And there, lounging on top of the rock stacks, were an assortment of villains. 

Shigaraki sat on the one closest to the ground, those hands groping disturbingly at his body, though he added a trench coat to his look. Dabi sat on the tallest one, Toga on the ones next to him. Magne sat on the one across, and Compress and Twice were on another two. One was conspicuously empty. 

But Toga was _wrong. She was so wrong._

Her skin was still pale, but now she had stitches keeping her skin together. Wide black stitches running across her face, over her neck, her hands, her legs. Piecing her together like some wretched, deformed, twisted doll. She still carried the manic smile. But her eyes were black, and her pupils were blown far too wide to be natural. As if she was... high?

There was a long, tense moment of silence. 

"We are Aogiri Tree." Shigaraki was the one to break it. "And all we want for today is to take one of the children. Nothing too important. You won't even miss him. So why don't we play nice and hand him over?" 

"Never." Aizawa grit out, already in a fighting stance. The other teachers had settled into ones too, and to the minor horror of the adults, the students were just as battle ready as they were. 

Shigaraki sighed, shaking his head in mock disappointment. "We'll be taking the grape boy, whether you fight us about it or not. Why not make it easy for you all?"

Mineta was visibly shaking and retreated backward in the gathering. The teachers shifted to be closer to him, and the students did as well. Each one looked prepared to die for their friend. 

There was another tense silence. 

Shigaraki simply made a thoughtful noise. "Mm. Toga."

And before they could even react, the walking horror story had thrown a knife with a purple line down the center of it, gleaming in the light. It flew straight forward at a deadly precision, and no one could move as it sank deep into the shoulder of Midnight. 

She cried out before her eyes rolled back in her head and she dropped to the ground. The knife had embedded itself up to its hilt, and blood was sluggishly dripping out of the wound. 

"Toshinori, take Nemuri, and get help," Aizawa ordered, and the skinny blonde nodded. 

Meanwhile, the villains all dropped down from their places on the columns, hitting the ground. Toga looked ecstatic about something as she twirled a knife between her fingers. "Is it time for him to come play yet?"

Dabi shook his head. "We'll wait for a little while longer. Who knows, he might not even be needed."

Toga pouted. "But he's so cool! And his new quirk has been so much fun to play with! Just look at everything it did to me!"

Did to-

Someone did that to her? 

It made everyone sick. 

"Focus, Toga. Get the purple boy." Shigaraki ordered. 

The students reacted first, jumping forward with battle cries. The teachers still in commission followed suit, Aizawa activating his quirk and Ectoplasm activating his. Students clashed, and explosions rang out as the fighting started. 

Dabi went for Todoroki, immediately sending out a burst of flames. As Todoroki dodged, Dabi's hand shot out and snatched the boy's wrist, pulling him sharply towards him. When Todoroki started to panic, Dabi reached out and grabbed his arm, twisting it expertly. There was a loud snap, and Todoroki fell back. Dabi moved on. 

The patchwork quilt-looking villain Toga went for Uraraka, flicking her wrist and sending three knives out. Uraraka dodged on, but the other two sliced deep in her shoulder as they passed, continuing on their path to embed in the ground. 

Toga only grinned sadistically as she pulled her hand back and the knives came flying back to her on invisible strings. Uraraka reached out to grab her, but Toga flipped backward and threw the knives again. Uraraka dodged two this time, but the one that caught the edge of her arm went deep. When Toga pulled them back again, Uraraka noticed the red line filling up on them. 

Just as Toga prepared to throw them again and achieve her goal, Tsuyu appeared. The frog girl wrapped her tongue around Toga's arm, preparing to yank her back. Instead, she screamed and tried to pull her tongue back. 

Toga only laughed and reached out, grabbing Tsuyu's tongue in a sharp grip as the frog girl screamed again, even louder. Her tongue was dripping blood where Toga was grabbing it, and where it was still wrapped around her arm. The blood dripped to the ground, forming fast puddles. 

"I can turn the stitches on my skin into little barbs with hooks and some poison." Toga giggled. "Isn't that so much fun?"

So it was better that Uraraka hadn't touched her. 

The girl went to charge but found the world swaying around her. She couldn't do anything because she was losing blood too quickly. In other words, Tsuyu was completely screwed. 

Before Uraraka could completely give up hope, Ojiro appeared, driving his knee into the back of Toga's head and throwing her straight to the ground. Toga yelped as she went down, but her grip didn't loosen on Tsuyu. Which meant she dragged her down too, earning an even louder scream that caught the attention of everyone in the gym. 

While they dealt with Toga, Shigaraki and Dabi were slowly weaving through the crowd and getting closer to the purple boy. He was shaking and cowering away, hiding behind Yaoyorozu and another student with a comically puffy mouth.

Compress and Twice were doing well against the explosive student they had tried to take from the summer camp and the bird-headed boy, along with the engine boy and the acid girl. The fight wasn't horrible. 

That was until Aizawa jumped into the skirmish between Toga and his kids, landing an awful kick to the bottom of Toga's spine. The girl went limp, which allowed Tsuyu to get her tongue back. The poor girl was left crying on the ground as other students ran to comfort her. 

Toga was very much conscious, but she couldn't move anything except for her head. And that teacher was walking over to her awful fast. As she struggled to get away, Twice was taken down, and Compress was restrained. 

As much as the villains hated to admit it, they were starting to lose the battle from the sheer amount of people present. Which meant that it was about time for them to take the purple boy and run. 

As Dabi was dealt a harsh blow, Shigaraki decided it was time to put an end to this. 

" _Ima!_ " 

His shout carried out across the gym, and everyone froze as they waited for all hell to break loose. But... nothing happened. The students looked at each other, and Aizawa and Ectoplasm exchanged confused glances. 

That was before there was the flash of red, and the sight of something reaching, of something, _pulsating._ Like a heartbeat. A thin appendage shot out before anyone could blink, and swooped Toga back from the floor and away from Aizawa. She vanished in the shadow. 

Then, there was the black, grey, and white blur of _something_ moving. It was gone before anyone could blink. Similar to lightning. If lightning had those awful looking things attached to it. 

"Help!" 

Everyone's gazes snapped up to the source of the noise. 

Mineta was on the pillar that hadn't been occupied when the villains were first present, held by his throat over the drop to the floor. He scrabbled at the hold, a fearful expression on his face. 

And sitting there, not a care in the world, was Midoriya. 

He was dressed in the same bodysuit and shirt and shorts they had found him in at Kamino, and that terrifying mask was on his face. His single visible green eye looked to be almost glowing a bright, toxic green, and he regarded the students below like a predator would prey. 

"D-Deku?" Uraraka stuttered out in surprise. 

Midoriya didn't reply, rather focusing on the struggling student in his grasp. "Compress, this is the reason you're here."

"I'm a little tied up." Compress chuckled in a strained voice across the room, where he was, in fact, tied up with rope that Yaoyorozu seemed to have made. 

Midoriya only rolled his eyes. "Excuses, excuses, excuses." 

Mineta cried out again, clawing at Midoriya's hand. Midoriya looked at him with disgust in his gaze, and if the mask wasn't on, he would surely be scrunching up his nose. "Now you're getting to be annoying. Stop fidgeting."

Mineta, of course, didn't listen and fought with renewed strength. He writhed around like a disgusting serpent, squirming and reaching and hurting anything he could touch. He managed to reach out and bite down harshly on Midoriya's hand, drawing blood. 

Midoriya cursed, and he let his grip on the child fail. Mineta screamed as he dropped, heading straight for the cement floor. And Midoriya just watched him impassively, his hand still held out as it was when he was holding him. 

There was an awfully long stretch of his scream before he smacked the concrete. Blood exploded outwards around his head, and he lay there, unmoving. A horrified silence coated the gym. 

Midoriya stared at the body for another second, before pushing himself off the pillar and jumping down to the ground. He landed easily, completely unharmed. He walked next to Mineta, staring down at him. 

"He's alive." He called suddenly. 

The students in the room released a breath none of them realized that they had been holding. 

But Midoriya only sighed. "How messy. I suppose we didn't really need him for anything. The plan was to take him and vanish. You'd have found his ravaged body in a back alleyway soon enough."

"W-what?" Iida stuttered.

The edges of Midoriya's eye crinkled up in the way it did when he smiled. "We've all got to eat, don't we?"

Silence. 

Midoriya shook his head with a sigh, turning to face Shigaraki. "Let's leave. These people are boring."

Shigaraki nodded. "Grab Compress and we can go."

Compress shifted in his bindings, managing to sit up as he waited patiently. Yaoyorozu and Aizawa lunged for him at the exact same time, and a couple of Ectoplasm's clones went for him. 

But Midoriya only shook his head again and closed his eye. When he opened it, the sclera had turned black and his pupils had gone red. Red cracks spiderwebbed out from it, tracking the movement of each little thing in the room. 

And in a blur, he had leaped forward, running across the room and ducking between hits as he reached down to grab Compress. Ectoplasm reached out to grab him, both of his clones centimeters from the boy. Close enough to catch him. 

Then they disappeared in a poof.

In their place was a single pulsating red... tentacle? 

Whatever it was, it was deadly, and it retreated back to where it came after a second. And, of course, it would be coming from Midoriya's lower back. The white-haired boy seemed unaffected, and he had already undone the ropes holding the villain he had just rescued. 

Once they were undone, Midoriya gave a mocking salute to Aizawa and turned, running off faster than anyone could blink. Compress followed soon after, and the rest of the villains had somehow vanished from the room. 

_All except for one._

* * *

Toga bared her teeth. "I'll tell you nothing!"

Aizawa merely shook his head, gaze flinty and cold.

"You'll tear eventually, rag doll."


	9. you will find nothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> oH mY wHaT nOw

Aizawa sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

He sat with Toshinori, Yamada, Tsukuachi, Nemuri, and Nedzu in one of the interrogation rooms of Tartarus. They had captured the villain and brought her here, where she sat in a chair in a straightjacket in front of them. It had been a week.

When it was examined closer, it could be told that some patches of her skin were discolored and not her own. They were sewed cruelly onto other parts of her skin like patchwork, holding her together in the same way staples held together the villain Dabi.

Despite the obvious hopelessness of the entire situation, she refused to crack or give any information whatsoever. It was beginning to get annoying, but they couldn't very well _force_ the truth out of her. 

"Let's head back to the basics. What is the goal of Aogiri Tree?" Tsukuachi tried again, gaze weary. 

Toga looked at him with an unimpressed glare. "To remove the stick up your ass."

Tsukuachi's eye twitched. 

This was going absolutely nowhere.

* * *

A shape was perched on top of the roof of a building, the moonlight illuminating his figure. He was dressed in black, and his visible eye was closed. Pale white curls swayed gently in the night breeze. 

"It was an interesting move to leave her." Another voice commented dryly behind him. 

Standing behind the crouched shape were more shapes, each one a different size and height. They watched the figure with wary expressions, and the one who had dared to speak was the one with light blue hair and a trench coat, disturbing severed hands holding onto his body at different places.

"We have a guaranteed in." the figure said, voice smooth like honey. "why wouldn't we take this?"

The blue-haired man only laughed. "I believe you'll become our strategist soon. Dabi and I can only do so much at a time."

The figure nodded and hummed noncommittally. "Our goal is to grab Toga and free Kurogiri. Although, loosening any other prisoners is not discouraged. If it comes down to it, take Kurogiri instead."

"Are the cameras still functional?" Another man asked from behind the two. 

"Yes." another answered. "They aren't to be worried about. Focus more on the mission than how they will portray us on the news."

"If they even have the balls to broadcast something like that." someone snorted. 

" _Hush._ " The figure crouched suddenly hissed. 

Silence coated the air, the wind making soft noises in the ears of each person gathered. In front of them, the black iron walls of Tartarus shone with the reflected light of the moon. Guards were stationed around it. 

" _Go."_

There was the sound of rustling as each figure disappeared. 

* * *

"Was that really Midoriya?" Uraraka asked after a long moment of silence. 

The lack of response only confirmed her fears. 

"Why would he go to the villain's side, though, kero?" Tsuyu questioned. The class was gathered in the common room of the dorms, everyone mostly quiet as they were quietly digesting everything. 

"He's sick," Kirishima said suddenly. "That has to be it."

"No." Todoroki contracted right away, voice empty but strong as it rang out in the room. He left no room for argument in his tone, and his gaze was hidden underneath the long fringe of his hair. "This is how he is. Midoriya Izuku is dead."

"Dead?" Mina asked, gulping. 

"Whatever walked out of Kamino after the battle is _not_ Midoriya. Midoriya is strong and sweet and would never hurt anyone. It isn't even a possibility he would go over to the villain's side. This is a monster made from whatever trauma was endured inside of that building and the blood he has consumed."

"I don't like this," Uraraka said suddenly. "Toga has to have information on what is going on. She was there. She knows what happened to our Deku."

Bakugou nodded, speaking up for the first time since everything went down. "She likes a couple of us. If we tried to talk to her, she would probably give us the answers we wanted. We just have to try."

"How?" Sero interrupted. "There's no way we'll be allowed to set foot inside of Tartarus."

"Exactly. So we do it ourselves." Bakugou said, perking up more as the conversation went on. 

Todoroki nodded. "We can make it into the building and find Toga to question her. We just need a plan to get there."

Uraraka stood up straighter. "You're right. We need someone with computer skills to get us in and keep us safe while we're inside, and we'll need some equipment so that we don't get caught while we're inside."

It wasn't much, but it was something. It was something to work towards.

And that was all they needed for now.

* * *

Toga wasn't great at keeping track of the time, so she had no real idea of how long she had been stuck in the interrogation room at Tartarus. She knew that Izu-kun would come for her, so she wasn't very worried, though. 

But she hadn't been expecting a group of students from 1-A to come walking into her room. They snuck in through the door, closing it behind them and turning to face her with unreadable expressions. 

Todoroki, Bakugou, Uraraka, Asui, and Iida. 

Toga grinned. "Hi!"

Uraraka and Asui walked forward, Bakugou and Todoroki flanking them while Iida hung out in the back of the room, next to the door. Ah, so they had someone watching the cameras and doing hacking while they stationed a few sentries in the building. Smart. 

"How are you?" Toga asked in her cheery tone. 

Uraraka didn't flinch, looking at her coldly instead. "We want to know what happened to Deku when he was in Kamino."

She had figured. Why else would he lovely Uraraka come to visit her while she was in prison? Certainly not for a midnight rendevous with her lover, so this was the only other option. 

"Y'know," Toga sighed. "that's about all anyone is asking me. Aogiri Tree this, Izu-kun that, but what about me? No one has bothered to ask how _I_ feel about any of this. It's all about Izu-kun and Aogiri."

Uraraka exchanged a glance with Asui, before sighing herself. She looked back to Toga with a cold expression. "How have you been, Toga?"

And if that wasn't the sweetest thing. 

She grinned to make sure they understood that was the nicest thing anyone had said to her while she was trapped in this room in this damned prison. She hoped that at least Kurogiri had been faring better than her.

"Oh, thanks for asking!" Toga laughed. "I've been awful! This place is cold and chairs hurt to sleep in, and they only give me bland tasteless food and I practically have to _beg_ for water and to use the bathroom! It's horrible!"

Uraraka only looked at her. She looked unamused and unsympathetic to Toga's cause. Whatever. Who needed her anyway? 

"That's nice." 

"Did you not listen to anything I just said?" Toga replied icily. 

Uraraka only narrowed her own gaze. 

Toga sighed, before looking back up with a smirk and a glint in her eyes. "I'll tell you what, since you've been so nice to me, I'll tell something about me. I can tell you about how I ended up looking like the world's ugliest ragdoll."

That piqued the interest of every person present in the room as they turned to look at her. 

Toga grinned. "Well, let's see. We had had little Izu-kun for, maybe a week? I dunno, I don't keep track. It happened the same day he broke out and killed our Sensei. You see, Sensei had done something bad to him. He had played with him a little too much, and didn't give him enough food, I guess."

Todoroki looked horrified.

"So, anyways, Sensei went out to fight you all and I was left alone. Since I was so very bored on my own, I grabbed one of the scalpels on the table near Izu-kun. He was sitting in his chair so nicely, head down and staring at the floor. His hair was all white, but I figured that was due to all the torture."

The people had their breaths caught, waiting with bated breath for the thing they feared the most to be confirmed. 

"He was all bloody, with it dripping off of him. He didn't smell too bad, though. He had been mumbling to himself before Sensei left, but I just left him alone. He was wearing ratty old shirts and a shirt with a high collar, I think. His hands were still chained behind his back, and his legs were cuffed on the floor. I went to drag the scalpel, and I remembered he inhaled really sharply."

Silence as they waited for her to continue. 

"But as soon as the metal touched his skin, there was a snapping sound, and before I knew it, he had thrown me back onto the ground." Toga was having _so much fun_ with the horrified looks of the students. "His nails were digging into my skin as he reached out, biting deep, deep, deep into my shoulder and tearing into muscle and sinew like nothing. I had fallen back onto the ground, and he sliced open my face."

"After a while of shredding me, he eventually reached down to rip open my stomach and began to eat my organs. He started with one of my intestines and eventually made his way to my stomach. There was blood everywhere, and he had long since broken off my ribcage to chew. After a while, he reached up and ripped out my throat. He ate it. I remember seeing him sit on the chair again licking up the blood on his arms, and then I blacked out."

"When I woke up, I was on an operating table looking like this. I had been taken by the Doctor and brought back to life. You could say that I'm kinda like a Nomu now." Toga giggled. 

There was a terrible silence as the students began to realize the truth of it. 

"D-d-d-deku _a-ate_ y-yo-u?" Uraraka whispered. 

Toga nodded. "Yep! I hope I at least tasted delicious in the end."

Before the students could be sick on the ground, or collapse in a heap, the building began to rumble. 

Aogiri Tree had arrived. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cochlea

**Author's Note:**

> dear god what have i d o n e


End file.
